The Silent Astrophysicist Conundrum
by Sheldorfan
Summary: What happens after Penny walks out at the end of the season 4 finale? I have seen several stories showing scenarios regarding this, but haven't seen many that go this route.
1. Chapter 1

The Silent Astrophysicist Conundrum

A/N: I haven't seen much in the way of this pairing, and it's my second favorite (after Shenny)! Takes place just after the season 4 finale.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, I just like playing with them.

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Chapter 1

The Webcam Observation

After Penny walks out, Raj retreats back to Leonard's old room and tries to figure out what happened last night. The last thing he remembers is sharing a glass of wine with Penny just after Sheldon went to bed. He looks at the bed, noticing the state of the sheets he determines that something did happen with Penny. 'Is this such a bad thing?' he thinks to himself as he starts to get his thoughts collected.

A few hours later, Raj walks through the apartment ignoring the looks he gets from the others. He heads straight for Penny's door and knocks. When Penny opens the door and sees who it is she begins to close it again, but Raj blocks the door and gestures that he wants to come in. Penny gives in after a few seconds and says, "What good is coming over here going to do you? You can't even talk to me." Raj pulls out his phone and begins typing. When he's done he shows her and points over his shoulder, it reads, 'It's better than trying to deal with them.' At that, seeing that the guys are at their door looking on, she steps aside and allows him in before closing and locking the door.

Raj sits down and starts looking around the room nervously. Penny just stares at him trying to come up with what she can say. After several moments, Penny walks over to the kitchen, picks up a bottle of vodka and a shot glass, and pours about half a shot into it. She puts the bottle away before she walks over to Raj and hands it to him. "This is all your getting, and it's only because we need to figure this out." she says sternly. Raj nods emphatically as he takes the vodka from penny and downs it with one gulp.

"Dude, this is so awkward right now." Raj blurts out. "You're telling _me_." Penny replies. "So what are we going to do about it?" Raj asks. "I don't know." Penny replies in an exhausted tone. After several more moments of uncomfortable silence, Raj says, "In rom-coms things are never this weird." "You're seriously comparing _this_ to romantic comedies? You're unbelievable!" Penny exclaims incredulously.

Meanwhile, in the hall, Leonard and Howard are both pressed up against the door of 4B trying to listen in on the conversation. "Man, I wish I were a fly on Penny's wall right now." Howard says in an exited yet hushed voice. "For once I agree with you, Howard." Leonard said. Then they hear Sheldon call out, "I'm in!" Rushing back to 4A they find Sheldon at his desk and on his screen is a picture of Raj's knees. Sheldon states with a smug look, "I've hacked Penny's webcam, all we can see is Raj's legs, but we can hear everything." Howard says, "I don't hear much talking."

Back in 4B, Raj keeps opening his mouth like he is going to say something then closes it again and looks away. Penny just stares at him as she gathers her own thoughts. "How much do you remember from last night?" she finally asks. "All I remember is having a few glasses of wine with you and Sheldon last night, then you woke me up when you sat up in bed." Raj replies. "Damn, that's about all I remember too." Penny says.

"I do know that we did do the nasty last night though, the sheets were very stained this morning." Raj says after another short pause. Penny drops her head into her hands. "Penny, this doesn't have to be a bad thing." Raj tries to comfort her. "How is this not a bad thing?" she sobs through her hands. "Well, I like you a lot. We could try to make the best of this." Raj responded. Penny lifts her head a couple inches and looks at him through blurry eyes, "How would we do that?"

Standing behind Sheldon, Leonard and Howard are still looking at the computer. "We shouldn't be doing this." Leonard says without moving away.

"We could go out for dinner and see what happens." Raj responds to Penny. Penny chuckles at that and says, "You can't even talk to me without alcohol, do you really think that will work?" Raj says, "It can't hurt anymore to try." Penny thought about it for a long moment before speaking again, "I guess if you want to we can give it a shot." Penny leans over and hugs him. Then Raj notices the laptop in front of him is lit up. Quickly figuring out what was going on he whispers in Penny's ear, "I think Sheldon hacked your webcam."

Over at 4A the screen suddenly changes. Penny's face fills the screen with a look that says 'you're dead' before it goes black as she shut the screen. As this happens, Sheldon jumps back in his chair nearly knocking over Howard and Leonard.

A half hour later the three men in 4A are tied together with duct tape. They are still tied up several hours later when Sheldon cranes his head around toward Leonard and states, "Leonard, it's Thai food night."

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A/N: Let me know what you think! I have no idea where this will go, if anywhere, but I thought this might be a fun avenue to explore.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The First Date Experiment

Later that day, Penny looks through her closet trying to find the right outfit for her date with Raj. She settles on a plain pink t-shirt and black, knee length skirt with a light floral print. 'Simple, yet elegant.' She thinks to herself. She heads to the bathroom to shower and get ready. Once she is done in the shower, she fixes her hair so it falls in light waves around her face and puts on her makeup.

After getting ready for her date with Raj, she heads across the hall. After letting herself in, she looks over at the three men who are still tied up. "Are you three ready to apologize?" she asks dryly. Howard nods his head quickly, saying, "I'm sorry! Just cut me loose." Sheldon's face just twitches as she stares at him. Leonard replies with a dejected nod, his eyes downcast. "Alright, I'll let you loose, but Sheldon," she narrows her eyes at him, "don't forget I have your mother's phone number." Sheldon's eyes got huge as she said that.

Once they are free Sheldon walks straight to his room, and Howard and Leonard both ran for the bathroom. Howard gets there first and nearly breaks Leonard's nose against the door as it closes. Raj emerges from his room as all this is happening. He is wearing his typical bad sweater vest and brightly colored jacket combo. As he enters the living room he smiles at Penny and gives her two thumbs up. Smiling back, Penny says, "Come on Raj, let's go."

At the restaurant, Penny and Raj sit across from each other at a small table in a semi secluded spot in the dining room. When the waitress comes over to take their drink orders, Penny pulls her over and says quietly so Raj can't hear, "Make any drink he orders virgin, but don't let him know, I'm trying something out. Start him with a virgin Cosmo, and bring me a normal one." "Are you sure he's ok with this?" the waitress asks. "He can't talk to women unless he drinks, I wanna see if I can get him talking without alcohol." Penny replied. And with a short nod she checks both their IDs and walks away to get the drinks.

Raj looks at Penny questioningly and motions toward the waitress. Penny responds by saying, "Don't worry I ordered your drink, I got you a Cosmopolitan, a little change from your usual grasshopper." Raj nods and smiles. Once the drinks arrive Penny gets a subtle wink from the waitress as she sets the drinks down. Raj takes a sip of his and says, "Mmm, this is good. I can't even taste the alcohol!" Penny gives a smug little smirk and thinks 'I might not have a PhD, but I'm not stupid either.'

After eating their meal and several virgin cocktails later, Penny is discovering that Raj is probably the most 'normal' of all her boys. He can hold a conversation with her without going into too many high-end science-y explanations. He actually knows whom she's talking about when she talks about favorite singers and movie stars. When he does start talking in big technical terms, he manages to 'dumb it down' without making her feel stupid. Penny thinks to herself, 'I can't believe he hasn't gotten a girlfriend before.' Before she remembers he can't talk in front of girls.

Arriving back at 2311 N. Los Robles, Raj takes penny past the fourth floor where she was expecting to part ways, and up to the roof. Laying her down gently on the roof, he explains, "I want to show you a piece of my world." Laying himself down next to her, he begins by first pointing out some of the few constellations they could see that close to the city, then he started talking about how what we are seeing now as our night sky is a result of events that took place eons ago. "It's very possible that any given star you see now no longer exists." he explains, "It may have gone nova thousands of years ago, and we are still seeing the light that it produced while it was still burning."

Penny turns her head toward Raj and says quietly, "That's really cool Raj." And then she gives him a peck on the cheek, eliciting a sheepish smile from Raj. "There's something I need to tell you." Penny continues. "Those Cosmos I ordered you, they were virgin…" she trails off as Raj turns his head toward her, a sudden look of panic on his face. "But look, you talked to me all night sober! And you showed me the stars in a way I have never seen them before." She says as she takes his hand in hers between them. His face relaxes into a timid smile as he blushes.

Raj opens his mouth to try and say something, but all that comes out is a muffled squeak. "Raj, it's only me. Don't think of me as a pretty girl, but just a good friend." Penny offers. "Th-th-tha-thank you." He manages to stutter out. Penny puts on her 10,000-watt smile and asks, "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Raj manages to eke out a tiny "No." "We'll take it slow." Penny says.

They stay on the roof, staring into each other's eyes, for several more minutes before making their way back to the fourth floor. Once on the landing between their apartments, green eyes meet brown again. Penny hugs Raj. As she begins to pull away, she finds her lips captured in a chaste, yet passionate kiss. They break off the kiss suddenly, when they hear a thud from just behind the door of 4A. Raj opens the door to the apartment to find that Leonard was spying through the peephole. "Dude, what the hell?" he shouted at Leonard. "I heard footsteps." Leonard offers with his typical whiny upward inflection and guilty smile.

Penny stands just behind Raj and notes that he is speaking in front of her, but lets her anger toward Leonard mask her surprise. Raj continues, "What are you even doing here? According to Sheldon you don't live here anymore." Raj suddenly remembers that Penny is right behind him and clamps his hands over his mouth. Leonard has a shocked look on his face when he realizes that Raj spoke in front of Penny. "I tried to tell him that, I even showed him the paperwork." Sheldon calmly pipes in from the kitchen, where he is getting his warm milk ready.

Struggling to come up with an excuse and not finding one, Leonard tries to push by Raj. Penny helps block the doorway and says, "Nuh-uh, you aren't leaving here until you get one thing straight, Leonard. I know what this is about. You and I are through. You need to stop pretending that you deserve me just because you still have feelings for me. Look, I still want to be friends with you, but only that. You are a great guy, and I care about you. But until you can come to terms with the fact that _we_ don't work, you need to leave me be."

Leonard mutters an apology and leaves as Penny steps aside. "Well, seeing as my interloping ex-roommate has been suitably dealt with, I'm off to bed. Goodnight Raj, Penny." "Goodnight Sheldon." Replies Penny. Raj waves. After Sheldon leaves the room, Penny turns to Raj and says, "Thank you for a wonderful evening, sorry it got ruined by Leonard." Raj shrugs and smiles. "Back to the silent treatment?" Penny inquires. Raj nods his head, but smiles as he pulls out his phone and starts typing.

_Thank you for giving me a chance. Maybe next time I'll be more relaxed and be able to talk._

"I look forward to it. Don't feel pressured though."

_Hey, at least I didn't have to run off to the little boy's room this time._ Raj shrugs.

"That's good. Text me tomorrow and we can go do something together."

Raj puts both thumbs up and bobs his head. "Goodnight Raj." Penny says giving him a lingering peck on the cheek. Raj waves as she turns around and walks over to her apartment.

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A/N: This chapter kept veering off in ways I didn't expect! Again, let me know what you thought.

I apologize if there are any tense errors, I don't typically write in present tense so I kept finding that I was slipping randomly into past tense. I think I caught all my slips though.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Bit of a long one, but should be worth it. I changed my format a bit, after rereading the first 2 chapters I realized it was a bit challenging to follow some of the dialogue. I also am trying to work in more of the humor that makes this show so great!

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Chapter 3

The Double Date Duality

Penny and Raj have been on several outings at this point. They have had a couple dates at the movies to watch the newest romantic comedies, knowing that none of the others would want to go. The movies turn out to be a nice place to go, as Raj has no real need to speak for the duration. They also go to the park a few times where Raj insists on showing Penny how to kite fight, but only after he manages to ask her without aid of cell phone or booze.

While cleaning during a lull in business at the Cheesecake Factory, Penny approaches Bernadette.

"I was just realizing that we haven't really hung out much since… well, you know… Howard." Penny says.

"Oh, it's ok. Howard and I have talked and resolved that issue. You're right though, we haven't seen each other outside of work in a while." Bernadette replies in her always-chipper tone.

After tossing around a few ideas for catching up, Bernadette says, "What about a double date?"

Penny thinks for a second and says, "Raj is just barely able to speak in front of me. You'll still cause him to clam up."

"Hmm, yeah, I suppose your right." Bernadette ponders some more.

"It could be an interesting 'experiment' though." Penny says thoughtfully, using air quotes.

The two yellow clad waitresses discuss the details of the date as they finish cleaning and get ready for the dinner rush. It's Tuesday, so Penny knows her plate is already going to be full tonight. Once she spots the tall lanky frame of one Dr. Sheldon Cooper, AKA: Crazy Hamburger Guy, she gets the cook started on his order right away.

As usual Sheldon finds something to complain about, this time it's the busboy that sneezed twice into his hand. Leonard tries to calm him down, to no avail. Howard and Raj have been discussing the more minute details of Star Wars, going back and forth about the physics and rules (or lack thereof) of Pod Racing. Once Sheldon starts calling attention to his self, Penny decides to step in and she gets him calmed down.

As the four boys are finishing up and getting ready to leave, Penny whispers to Raj, "If you hang out for five minutes my shift will be done and you can ride home with me."

Raj grins big and quietly says, "Ok!"

"Meet me out back when you are done." Penny says as she heads off to get the bill for another table.

Howard leans across the table and tells Raj, "I still find it weird that you can speak to Penny now. I mean don't get me wrong, it's great and all, just weird."

As the guys leave, Raj says goodbye at the front door and walks around to the employee entrance. After a few moments, and a few awkward glances from the employees coming and going, Penny comes out and walks up to Raj. She greets him with a brief kiss and walks him to her little red VW.

As they walk Penny says, "I'm glad you waited."

Raj shrugs, as if to say 'No problem.'

"So… how was your day honey?" Penny asks as she unlocks and opens her car door.

"S-s-s-same as always." Raj forces himself to say.

"So in other words, you checked your email twice an hour, played Farmville on facebook for a couple hours, and read some comic books at your desk." Penny fills in his response as she begins to pull out of the lot. Raj nods.

"Well, Bernadette and I thought it would be fun to go on a double date. What do you think?" Penny asks.

"S-sounds fun." Raj says with a small smile.

Most of the trip home is Penny rambling and Raj listening. The topics range from difficult customers at the Cheesecake Factory, to shoes.

The next Thursday is 'Anything Can Happen Thursday' so they decide it's a good day for the date. They decide to keep it casual, so every one dresses in their typical fashion. They arrive at the little family owned Italian restaurant, and sit with Penny and Raj on one side of the booth and Bernadette and Howard on the other. They order wine for the girls, a beer for Howard, and Raj has Penny order him a virgin cocktail.

"So the wedding is still on then?" Penny asks.

"Yeah, we just had to work through a rough patch." Howard says, taking Bernadette's hand and looking at her lovingly.

"It was just a misunderstanding." Bernadette agreed, returning Howard's gaze.

Raj takes a sip of his virgin cocktail and says, "I'm so happy for you two!"

When everyone stares at him, he bobs his head slightly and says, "What? It's virgin, but it still helps my confidence."

Penny smiles and gives him a peck on the cheek. Raj blushes.

"So, how is it going with you two? I see Raj is more talkative." Bernadette asks.

"It's going pretty good, even when he doesn't talk much, I am picking up on how he is so expressive with just his body language and gestures. I don't think I've ever dated such a good listener either." Penny replies. Raj's blush reappears.

"Howard's body language is usually implying a sexual innuendo, but I know that's just his creepy candy coating." Bernadette says with a smile.

"Ahem… right here!" Howard says.

"But you have a sweet center, like an M&M." Bernadette assuages him.

"Well, I do like M&Ms" Howard shrugs and chuckles.

As the food comes, Penny and Bernadette start talking about clothes and shoes. Howard and Raj are in a semi-heated debate over who would win a war between artificially intelligent robots and zombies (Howard, the engineer, lobbying for the robots of course), which gets several eye rolls from Penny and some stares from Bernadette. They finish eating and Raj and Bernadette pay for their respective dates.

In the car on the way home, Howard and Bernadette are busying themselves in the back seat with a make out session. Penny is driving with Raj next to her in the passenger seat. Penny is resting her right hand on the gear selector. Raj reaches over and places his hand over hers.

Penny glances over and says, "I'm so proud of you, talking in front of not only me, but Bernadette too." As she says this she turns her hand over and intertwines her fingers with Raj's.

Raj says, "Now that I am with you, I don't feel as intimidated by women anymore. Though the cocktails still helped, even if they are virgin."

"That's great honey!" Penny says with a big smile and a gentle squeeze of his hand.

Penny thinks to herself, 'I fixed Raj!'

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A/N: This train might be losing steam, but who knows, I might find more inspiration. I tried to leave it at a good end point, incase I don't find myself coming back to this story. As always, let me know what you think, I do so love a little external validation. :P


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I brought in an OC for this chapter, however the location is real.

Chapter 4

The Observatory

On Friday, Raj called Penny and told her to make sure she was free on Saturday night from 11:00 pm until 2:00 am. With no other indication other than to dress for a cool night, Penny had no idea what he was planning. So on Saturday, Penny dresses in a pair of jeans, a tank top and a zip-up hoodie. Raj meets Penny at her door at 10:30 and takes her down to his car.

Penny asks, "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." He states calmly and with no stuttering.

Forty minutes later, they pull into the parking lot of the Mt. Wilson Observatory. Raj types out a short text as they walk up to the door. Once they reach the door it is being held open by an older man who looked to be in charge tonight.

"Good evening Dr. Koothrappali, so glad you could join us tonight." The older man says.

"Glad to be here Dr. Hammond. Thanks for allowing us use of the telescope on such short notice." Raj replies.

"This is so cool!" Penny exclaims as she is signing in at the visitor's desk.

Dr. Hammond says, "Should be a fun night to watch the skies, there are a couple extraordinary phenomena occurring tonight."

As they walk to the viewing station for the telescope, Raj spouts off some basic statistics and history of the observatory's 60" telescope. After asking permission, Raj begins aiming the telescope towards the coordinates he is looking for. The telescope whirs to life as the doors to the dome open and the telescope steadily swings around into position. Satisfied with the results, Raj calls Penny over to look at what he is aimed at.

"What you are seeing is an alignment of Mars and Jupiter." Raj states excitedly, "In a few minutes, they will be aligned completely."

"That's amazing sweetie!" Penny says.

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Back at the apartment, on the roof, Leonard and Sheldon are taking turns peering through their own telescope. "I can't believe Raj is missing this." Leonard says.

"I believe Raj is taking Penny to the observatory tonight." Sheldon says casually.

"What? How would you know that? And why didn't he tell me?" Leonard asks angrily.

"To answer your first question, Raj took Penny to the observatory at Mt. Wilson. To answer your second question, Raj kept going on about being late to meet Penny and that he needed to remember to thank Dr. Hammond. As to the third question, I would imagine it is because of your past carnal relationship with Penny." Sheldon replies nonchalantly.

Leonard puts his head in his hands before asking for his turn at the telescope again.

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Back at the observatory, they watch for several more minutes as the two celestial bodies come into alignment. Once the moment passes, Raj goes to work on the controls again. Once again the telescope whirs to life as it comes to bear on its new target. Again, satisfied with his aiming, Raj has Penny look through it. Penny finds a single star in the center of the view.

"It's so beautiful…" Penny trails off.

"It's called 'Penelope 001', I discovered it a couple months ago and just finished the paperwork for naming it yesterday." Raj says rather sheepishly.

Penny's eyes go wide as she turns her head to stare at him. "You named that star after me?" she asks, astounded.

Raj just gives a bashful nod, his shyness taking hold again. Penny leans over and hugs him for a long while. As they pull apart, Penny catches his lips with hers and they share a lingering kiss. They stare into each other's eyes for a moment before Raj looks down at his watch.

"We had better get going, we have a short walk ahead of us." Raj states.

"Where?" Penny asks.

"Down one of the hiking trails." Answers Raj.

With Penny's curiosity peaked, she follows Raj out of the observatory. Raj leads her down a small trail that looks hidden yet well used. Penny finds the trail leads to a small clearing in the woods that has a beautiful view of the night sky. Raj suddenly produces a blanket out of a pack he grabbed on the way out, and lays it on the ground in the center of the clearing.

"It's almost time." Raj says.

"For what?" Penny inquires.

"You'll see, just lay down here and watch the sky." He says, indicating the blanket.

Penny lies down on the blanket. Raj settles in next to her and takes her hand in his. As soon as their hands meet, the sky came alive with streaks of light crossing the starry blackness. Penny watches the meteor shower in stunned silence. Raj can't take his eyes off Penny.

After the meteor shower came to an end, Penny simply stated, "Amazing, Raj, that was incredible."

Turning her head to face him, she found him staring into her eyes. They find themselves entwined in a sweet embrace. Penny presses her lips against his and sucks his lower lip into her mouth. Raj deepens the kiss and they continue for several minutes.

The next morning Penny wakes up to find that she is outside, naked, and wrapped in a blanket with Raj. She smiles and kisses her sleeping boyfriend on the forehead while watching the sun come up over the trees.

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A/N: I think this will be the final installment. This just feels like the right place to let your own imagination fill in the rest. As always let me know what you think!

A/N 2: I thought I had lost this chapter. My laptop was in my tent while at the racetrack where I have been working, and I was stuck at my flagging station when a big storm hit. Of course the only things that got wet in my tent were my laptop, sitting in about an eighth inch of water, and my old school oscillating fan, sitting in about a half inch.


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